Implantable cardiac monitors (ICMs) are devices that may be implanted under a patient's skin to continuously monitor the patient's cardiac activity. An ICM may be programmed to detect and record cardiac information and episodes such as atrial/ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, bradycardia, asystole, etc. Triggers for detecting and recording an event (e.g., such as a tachy/brady detection rate, a number of events, and/or a duration of asystole) may be programmed by a clinician. Alternatively, when the patient experiences symptoms, the patient may activate the detection and recording using an external patient activator. Diagnostics and recorded events may be downloaded by the clinician in-clinic using a programmer. Further, the data may also be transmitted to the clinician using a daily remote monitoring system.
ICMs are generally relatively small (e.g., 1.1-1.5 cm3 in volume), and can be implanted using a relatively small incision (e.g., 1 cm). Once inserted under the patient's skin, the ICM has a relatively slim profile, mitigating patient concerns about body image. The ICM may be implanted in the patient's chest area near the sternum, and the implant procedure may take less than 10 minutes after application of a local topical anesthesia. Further, ICMs do not deliver pacing or shock therapies to the patient, nor do they require leads to be implanted in the patient's heart.
After a period of time, implanted devices, such as an ICM, may need to be retrieved from a patient. For example, an implanted device may be retrieved if a battery of the device fails, a diagnosis performed using the device is complete, or the device is causing an infection. An implanted device may also be retrieved for cosmetic purposes. Notably, in at least some known systems, given the size of the implantable device, it may be relatively difficult to locate and retrieve the device. For example, in at least some known systems, a physician takes x-rays of the patient in an attempt to determine a generation location of the device, makes an incision (which may or may not be proximate the device) based on the x-rays, and attempts to grab and remove the device.